Despite some progressive-sounding quotes from president of baseball operations Theo Epstein during his end-of-season press conference, the Cubs haven’t positioned themselves well on social issues like homophobia (acquiring Daniel Murphy) and domestic violence (Russell; acquiring Aroldis Chapman in 2016). Manager Joe Maddon, in fact, said he didn’t bother to read Reidy-Russell’s blog post and only eventually did so following backlash to that admission.

The Cubs are reportedly cash-strapped, suggesting that they may not get involved in the bidding for free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. The Cubs, valued by Forbes at close to $3 billion earlier this year, also recently traded pitcher Drew Smyly to the Rangers to clear some salary in order to pick up Cole Hamels‘ $20 million option for 2019. It would seem, then, that it would be a no-brainer to move on from Russell, who will almost certainly get a raise on his $3.2 million salary — MLB Trade Rumors projects him to earn $4.3 million in 2019. Even Russell’s on-field production has been lackluster, as he posted a meager .657 OPS across 130 games this past season.

The Cubs could be trying to salvage what little trade value Russell has left. He’s young, under team control for three more years, and is a good defender at shortstop. Other teams will cynically use Russell’s off-the-field problems in order to pick him up on the cheap, not unlike how the Astros plucked Roberto Osuna from the Blue Jays. If the Cubs simply admit they will be moving on from Russell, then they will have no leverage in trade negotiations. Of course, none of this matters if the Cubs simply severed ties with Russell completely. They have until November 30 to decide whether or not to tender him a contract.